Build Agent Advocates, Not Platform Agents

TL;DR

This paper advocates for user-controlled AI agents called 'agent advocates' to enhance individual autonomy online, emphasizing open access, interoperability, and regulation to prevent platform dominance and surveillance.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of agent advocates as a means to counteract platform control and proposes specific policy and technical measures to support their development.

Findings

Promoting agent advocates can protect user autonomy online.

Open standards and regulation are essential for implementing agent advocates.

User-controlled agents can challenge platform dominance.

Abstract

Language model agents are poised to mediate how people navigate and act online. If the companies that already dominate internet search, communication, and commerce -- or the firms trying to unseat them -- control these agents, the resulting platform agents will likely deepen surveillance, tighten lock-in, and further entrench incumbents. To resist that trajectory, this position paper argues that we should promote agent advocates: user-controlled agents that safeguard individual autonomy and choice. Doing so demands three coordinated moves: broad public access to both compute and capable AI models that are not platform-owned, open interoperability and safety standards, and market regulation that prevents platforms from foreclosing competition.